(-(  0\aJ  IdiioJ 


for 

'American  3oarli  ot  (StommisstontTS  tor 
JForrign  fHissions. 


The  Ceylon  Mission. 

1816-1905. 

A CONDENSED  SKETCH. 

By  Rev.  SAMUEL.  W.  HOWLAND,  D.D. 


V 


BOSTON : 

iBrintri  for  tfjr  Smcrican  Boarli, 
14  Beacon  Street. 

1905. 


CONDENSED  SKETCH  OF  THE  CEYLON 
MISSION  OF  THE  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 


Location.  — The  Ceylon  Mission  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  is  confined  to  the  peninsula  of  Jaffna 
which  is  the  northern  part  of  the  island  of  Cey- 
lon, and  connected  with  it  by  a sandbank  on 
the  east.  Its  length  is  forty-two  miles  from  east 
to  west ; its  width  fourteen  miles  from  north  to 
south,  in  the  widest  part.  The  people  of  southern 
and  central  Cej'lon  are  of  a different  race  and- 
religion,  speaking  the  Singalese  language  and 
professing  Buddhism.  The  country  for  a long 
distance  south  of  Jaffna  is  very  sparsely  settled, 
while  the  peninsula  itself  is  very  populous. 
Jaffna  town  is  in  latitude  9°-47'  north,  and 
longitude  80^-9'  east. 

The  Country  and  Climate.  — Jaffna  is  of 
coral  formation,  and  rises  from  seven  to  thirty- 
five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  general 
the  coral  has  been  solidified  into  hard  limestone. 

The  soil  is  good,  in  some  districts  slightly 
clayey,  in  others  sandy.  There  are  no  streams. 


4 


The  salt  river  is  an  estuary,  which  in  the  wet 
season  is  largely  filled  with  brackish  water,  but 
in  the  dry  season  its  bed  furnishes  a deposit  of 
some  thousands  of  tens  of  salt  which  is  exported 
by  the  government.  Wells  fifteen  to  thirty  feet 
in  depth  abound,  and  are  very  necessary  for  irri- 
gation in  the  dry  season.  The  nearness  of  the 
sea  tempers  the  heat,  in  the  house  the  mercury 
rarely  going  above  93°,  or  below  76°.  The  heat 
of  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  as  measured  by  the 
vacuum  thermometer,  varies  from  148°  to  164°. 
There  are  two  hot  seasons,  April  and  August, 
when  the  sun  is  directly  overhead.  The  rainy 
season  comes  with  the  north  monsoon  in  October 
and  November,  followed  by  the  dewy  season. 
When  the  south  monsoon  blows,  from  May  to 
July,  is  the  pleasantest  part  of  the  year,  with 
very  little  rain.  The  annual  average  rainfall  is 
forty -five  inches.  The  climate  is  generally 
healthful,  though  in  certain  localities  fevers 
prevail,  and  about  once  in  eleven  years  cholera 
comes  in  from  India  and  carries  off  its  thousands. 
The  longest  active  service  of  any  missionaries  of 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  was  in  Jaffna,  that  of  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Spaulding,  from  1820  till  1873  and  1875. 

Products. — Millions  of  the  palmyra-palm 
growing  in  groves  cover  “ many  a palmy  plain.” 
The  people  call  this  “ the  tree  of  life.”  and  with 


5 


many  it  supplies  almost  all  their  needs,  food  and 
drink,  bed,  house-timbers,  thatch,  doors,  fence, 
etc.  One  fourth  of  the  food  of  the  district  is 
derived  from  it.  Its  timber  and  sugar  are  ex- 
ported in  considerable  quantities.  The  cocoa- 
palm  is  also  abundant.  Tobacco  is  the  principal 
cultivated  product,  estimated  at  over  6,000,000 
pounds  yearly.  Rice  constitutes  the  principal 
food,  but  not  enough  is  raised  for  the  use  of 
the  population.  The  villages  touch  one  another, 
each  house  having  a large  yard  with  gardens  and 
numerous  shade-trees,  so  that  the  country  is  well 
wooded.  All  the  usual  tropical  fruits  are  found, 
the  most  abundant  being  plantains,  mangoes, 
and  the  jak,  which  is  the  largest  edible  tree- 
fruit  in  the  world.  The  gardens  furnish  a great 
variety  of  products  for  home  consumption,  espe- 
cially tapioca,  egg-plant,  peppers,  and  the  like. 

Population.  — While  the  census  of  the  whole 
island  of  Ceylon  gives  3,578,333  inhabitants, 
Jaffna  has  less  than  350,000  The  people  of 
the  peninsula  are  Tamils,  having  come  over 
from  the  near  coast  of  India  about  200  B.a 
They  have  straight  black  hair,  and  generall} 
good  features,  and.  though  dark  brown,  would 
be  classed  as  Indo-Europeans,  did  their  language 
permit.  The  Tamil  is  the  leading  member  of 
the  Dravidian  group  of  languages,  spoken  by 


6 


the  peoples  who  occupy  all  southern  India,  and 
who  evidently  came  into  India  from  the  north- 
west long  before  the  Aryans,  who  brought  in  the 
Brahman  religion.  The  majority  of  the  people 
are  agriculturists,  the  low  castes  being  less 
numerous  proportionally  than  in  India.  The 
Brahmans  or  priests  are  also  comparatively  few. 
There  are  about  5,000  Mohammedans,  all  of 
whom  are  traders.  The  government  is  well 
administered  by  the  English,  Ceylon  being  a 
Crown  Colony.  The  village  officers  and  a few 
in  higher  offices  are  Tamils. 

Customs.  — The  houses  of  the  people  are 
usually  built  with  mud  walls  about  six  feet  high, 
and  covered  with  a thatch  of  palm-leaves,  the 
wealthy  having  brick  walls  and  tiled  roofs.  A 
mat  forms  the  bed,  though  a corded  frame  bed- 
stead is  now  coming  into  use.  Most  of  their  life 
is  spent  out  of  doors,  the  yards  being  shut  in  by 
hedges  made  close  by  palm-leaves.  The  dress 
of  the  women  is  graceful,  consisting  of  seven 
yards  of  cloth  wrapped  around  the  waist,  reach- 
ing to  the  ankles,  and  carried  over  the  shoulder. 
Many  wear  also  a short-sleeved  jacket.  Jewels 
are  an  important  part  of  their  dress.  The  men 
wear  a piece  of  four  yards  around  the  waist,  with 
a colored  piece  to  throw  over  the  shoulder,  and 
a turban  on  the  head.  The  zenana  .system  does 


7 


not  prevail,  and  the  women  go  freely  to  any 
place,  yet  they  are  usually  busy  at  home  in 
preparing  their  meals,  pounding  the  rice,  and 
grinding  the  curry  stulfs,  taking  much  time. 
Men  and  women  eat  at  different  times.  They 
use  their  fingers  for  eating,  and  never  touch  a 
drinking-vessel  to  their  lips.  Some  of  the  more 
strict  Hindus  will  eat  nothing  that  has  had  life, 
but  most  of  the  people  eat  a little  fish.  The 
caste  system  is  substantially  the  same  as  in  India, 
originating  in  part  in  race  distinctions,  — the 
Brahmans  and  Pariahs  being  of  different  race 
from  the  Tamils,  and  forming  the  two  e.xtremes 
of  society,  and  in  part  in  occupation,  — fishers, 
artisans,  barbers,  etc.,  keeping  distinct.  All  are 
married  at  an  early  age,  from  fifteen  to  eighteen, 
and  even  widows  are  remarried,  registration 
being  required  by  government.  Palm-sap,  fer- 
mented, or  distilled  to  arrack,  is  used  to  a con- 
siderable extent,  although  drunkenness  is  not 
often  seen  in  public.  Their  farm  implements 
are  simple,  and  the  people  are  very  conservative 
and  do  not  respond  readily  to  attempts  to  in- 
troduce improved  plows  and  the  like.  Custom 
rules  with  an  iron  hand. 

Religion  of  the  People.  — The  Dravidians 
were  originally  devil-worshipers,  and  this  form 
of  religion  still  prevails  to  some  extent,  espe- 


8 


cially  in  outlying  districts.  The  Brahmans,  how- 
ever, centuries  ago,  thoroughly  engrafted  their 
religion  on  the  people,  and  idolatry  holds  them 
with  a grasp  that  must  be  seen  to  be  understood. 
As  distinct  from  some  in  India,  the  Jaffnese  are 
Sivites,  asserting  that  the  third  member  of  the 
triad,  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva,  is  the  one  only 
and  original  god,  basis  and  source  of  all  other 
deities  or  manifestations  of  divinity.  They 
nevertheless  worship  incarnations  of  Vishnu  as 
well,  and,  in  general,  the  largest  attendance  is  at 
the  temples  where  there  is  the  greatest  attraction 
in  the  way  of  car-drawing,  fireworks,  etc.  A 
belief  in  transmigration  and  fate  deadens  their 
sense  of  sin,  and  elaborate  and  mystical  systems 
of  philosophy  sustain  their  pride  in  their  religion. 

The  Mission  of  the  American  Board.  — 
Jaffna  was  occupied  by  the  Portuguese  in  1617, 
and  they  used  every  means  to  propagate  Roman 
Christianity.  The  peninsula  was  divided  into 
thirty-seven  parishes,  and  large  churches  erected. 
Many  of  the  people  are  still  Romanists.  After 
forty  years,  the  Dutch  took  the  place,  and,  by 
government  influence  and  almost  compulsion, 
filled  the  large  churches  with  nominal  Protest- 
ant Christian  congregations.  But  the  Christi- 
anity of  the  people  was  only  outward,  as  shown 
by  the  fact  that  when  the  English  took  posses- 


9 


sion  in  1796,  and  the  government  was  declared 
neutral  in  religion,  the  attendance  on  the  churches 
immediately  ceased,  and  when  the  American  mis- 
sionaries came,  in  1816,  all  traces  of  Protestant 
Christians  had  disappeared  and,  except  the  Ro- 
manists, the  whole  community  had  relapsed  to 
heathenism  and  naturally  believed  that  Protestant 
Christianity  is  merely  a matter  of  form.  Mr. 
Newell,  of  the  first  company  of  missionaries  sent 
out  by  the  American  Board  and  afterward  located 
in  Bombay,  visited  Jaffna  and  strongly  recom- 
mended it  as  a place  for  a mission,  both  because 
of  the  favorable  attitude  of  the  government  and 
because  of  the  relation  of  the  island  to  India. 

In  1816  the  mission  was  begun  by  Messrs. 
Richards,  Meigs,  and  Poor,  with  their  wives, 
and  Mr.  Warren.  In  1820  they  were  joined  by 
Messrs.  Spaulding,  Winslow,  Woodward,  and 
Scudder,  with  their  wives.  But  no  more  mis- 
sionaries were  permitted  by  the  government  to 
come  until  1832.  Permission  was  given  to  repair 
and  occupy  the  ruined  churches  and  parsonages 
left  by  the  Dutch,  and  seven  of  these  became 
mission  stations.  From  the  first  the  most  feas- 
ible method  of  work  seemed  to  be  by  schools, 
and  in  1826  the  Vaddukkoddai  Seminary  and 
the  Uduvil  Female  Boarding  School  were 
started.  The  former  continued  until  1856,  do- 


10 


ing  a grand  work  educationally  as  well  as  reli- 
giously. Its  legitimate  successor  is  the  Jaffna 
College,  begun  in  1872,  suggested  by  native 
Christians,  and  supported  by  endowments  of 
$70,000  raised  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  not  far  from  $8,000  given  in  Jaffna.  Dur- 
ing 1903  no  less  than  133  students  were  en- 
rolled. They  pay  their  own  expenses,  the 
institution  receiving  no  aid  from  the  Board  or 
the  government,  yet  being  thoroughly  mission- 
ary and  having  none  but  earnest  Christian  in- 
structors, two  of  them  from  the  United  States, 
besides  the  Missionary  President.  When  the 
Seminary  closed  in  1856,  a self-supporting  Eng- 
lish High  School  was  started  by  a native 
Christian  and  has  been  maintained  with  an 
attendance  of  about  300,  part  of  the  time  under 
an  American  principal.  The  Uduvil  Girls’ 
Seminary  has  had  a history  with  no  parallel  in  a 
heathen  land.  More  than  1,000  girls,  mostly 
from  heathen  homes,  have  been  trained  for  the 
Church.  Miss  Agnew  was  the  principal  for 
forty  years.  It  has  now  a beautiful  building,  a 
gift  from  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions,  ac- 
commodating its  too  pupils,  and  has  become 
self-supporting,  depending  on  its  endowment 
and  the  tuition  of  pupils  to  supplement  the  gov- 
ernment grant-in-aid.  The  Uduppiddi  Female 


Boarding  School,  with  49  pupils,  has  been 
doing  a similar  work  since  1867. 

Dr.  Scudder  began  medical  work,  but  the 
medical  department  was  fairly  started  by  Dr. 
Ward  in  1833,  and  carried  on  by  Dr.  Green 
with  aid  from  the  government.  Over  too  stu- 
dents have  been  trained  in  Western  medical 
science,  using  the  same  textbooks  as  students 
in  America,  latterly  in  the  vernacular,  Dr.  Green 
having  translated  them  into  Tamil.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  two  large  and  well- 
equipped  hospitals  under  the  care  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board.  The  largest  is  called  the  General 
Medical  Mission,  located  at  Manippay ; the 
other  is  the  Woman’s  Medical  Mission  located 
at  Inuvil.  At  Manippay  both  men  and  women, 
while  at  Inuvil  only  women,  are  treated.  Both 
hospitals  have  native  nurses  trained  in  schools, 
and  in  both  the  evangelical  work  is  emphasized 
among  the  patients.  In  1903  these  hospitals 
had  1,368  in-patients.  This  medical  work  is 
supported  by  special  fund  given  for  that  purpose, 
and  the  mission  is  much  indebted  to  Mi-ses 
Mary  and  Margaret  Leitch  for  their  efforts  in 
England  and  the  United  States  in  raising  funds 
not  only  for  the  plant  but  also  to  carry  on  the 
work. 

A Training  School  for  Teachers  is  nearly 


12 


supported  by  government  grant.  Over  lo,- 
ooo  children  in  136  village  schools  form  an 
encouraging  feature  not  equaled  elsewhere. 
These  schools,  although  almost  entirely  sup- 
ported locally,  are  under  the  control  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  are  a powerful  auxiliary  in  the 
work.  The  first  native  pastor  was  ordained  in 
1855.  There  are  now  eighteen  pastors.  The 
first  native  church  to  become  self-supporting 
was  Vaddukkoddai,  in  1867.  Now  there  are 
eighteen  independent  churches,  only  one  of 
them  receiving  a little  aid  from  the  mission.  At 
nine  out-stations  a part  of  the  preacher’s  salary 
is  paid  by  the  people,  and  in  each  of  these 
places  it  is  hoped  that  churches  may  be  started 
before  long.  The  total  membership  is  over 
2,000.  The  contributions  of  the  people  average 
over  $4  each  per  year,  which  is  the  equivalent  of 
the  ordinary  wages  for  forty  days’  labor.  The 
general  rule  among  the  Christians  is  to  give  one- 
tenth  of  their  income.  They  have  their  Home 
Missionary  Society,  which  supports  three 
preachers  in  the  islands  to  the  southwest  of 
Jaffna,  among  a population  of  28,000.  They  have 
also  a Foreign  Missionary  Society  which  raises 
funds  and  supports  missionaries  upon  the  east 
coast  of  India.  The  Theological  School  is  not 
continuous,  but  classes  are  taught  when  asufficient 


•3 


number  of  suitable  candidates  are  found.  The 
mission  enjoyed  the  services  of  a missionary 
printer  for  twenty  years ; first,  Mr.  Minor,  and 
then  Mr.  Burnell,  some  of  the  time  with  four 
presses  in  constant  operation.  The  press  has 
been  a very  important  auxiliary  and  has  done  a 
great  work.  During  those  twenty  years  172,- 
000,000  pages  were  printed,  nearly  one-third 
being  the  Word  of  God.  From  that  time,  un- 
der native  management,  it  has  continued  to 
render  important  service,  until  1903,  when  it 
passed  again  into  the  hands  of  the  mission. 
The  Morning  Star,  a semi-monthly  paper,  has 
been  kept  up  since  1841.  The  Ceylon  Mission 
has  always  given  much  attention  to  different 
forms  of  educational  work,  but  village  preaching 
has  by  no  means  been  neglected,  and  a good 
force  of  catechists  and  Bible-women  has  been 
employed  for  direct  work  among  the  heathen. 
Tent  work  and  moonlight  meetings  are  carried 
on  in  the  villages,  and  house-to-house  visitation 
to  such  an  extent  that  every  house  has  been  vis- 
ited repeatedly. 

Although  heathen  temples  are  thronged  more 
than  ever  at  the  great  festivals,  it  is  largely  as 
holiday  affairs,  and  there  is  a very  general  ex- 
pectation that  Christianity  will  prevail.  The 
soil  is  prepared,  the  seed  is  sown.  Jaffna  was 


14 


the  basis  for  beginning  the  Madura  Mission  in 
1834,  and  at  all  times  Jaffna  men  have  held  po- 
sitions of  influence  in  India.  The  first  con%’ert 
of  the  American  Board  from  heathenism  was  in 
Jaffna.  Nowhere  else  in  a heathen  land  has 
Christianity  so  strong  a hold  on  the  whole  com- 
munity. There  are  now  four  missionaries  and 
their  wives  and  three  single  ladies  connected 
with  the  mission.  Although  the  native  church 
is  independent,  the  work  of  evangelizing  the 
heathen  cannot  be  left  to  it  until  the  time  of 
great  ingathering,  which  we  hope  is  near. 

Other  Missions  in  Jaffna. — When  the 
American  missionaries  arrived  they  found  the 
English  Wesleyans  already  in  the  field,  and 
the  agreement  was  made  that  the  Wesleyans  take 
the  towns  of  Jaffna  and  Point  Pedro,  and  the 
Americans  take  the  country  population.  Two 
years  later  the  English  Church  Mission  also  en- 
tered the  field  and  took  up  some  unoccupied 
districts.  These  three  missions  work  harmoni- 
ously side  by  side,  each  in  its  own  portion.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society  has  a population  of 
50,000  in  its  field,  the  Wesleyans  52,000,  the 
Americans  155,000.  The  two  former  have  mis- 
sions in  the  main  part  of  Ceylon,  but  the  Ameri- 
cans have  not  extended  their  work  in  that 
direction. 


15 


The  government  authorities  in  Ceylon  have 
recently  changed  the  orthography  of  the  names 
of  cities  and  towns  to  conform,  it  is  said,  more 
nearly  with  the  native  pronunciations.  The 
changes  are  so  great  that  several  of  the  stations 
of  the  American  Board  would  hardly  be  recog- 
nized under  the  new  spelling,  which  is  now 
adopted  by  the  mission.  Batlicotta  is 
now  spelled  Vaddukkoddai  and  Tillipally  is 
now  Tellippallai. 


CEYLON  MISSION  — 1905. 

MISSIONARIES,  WITH  THEIR  STAIIONS  AND  DATE  OF 
JOINING  THE  MISSION. 


Miss  Susan  R.  Howland 
Rev.  Richard  C.  Hastings 
Mrs.  Minnie  B.  Ha’stings 
Rev.  Thomas  B.  Scott,  M.D 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Scott,  M.D. 
Miss  Isabel  H.  Curr,  M.D. 
Rev.  Giles  G.  Brown  . . 
Mrs.  Clara  L.  Brown  . . 
Miss  Helen  I.  Root  . . 
Miss  Annie  Young,  M.D. 
Rev.  James  H.  Dickson  . 
Mrs.  Frances  A.  Dickson 
Miss  Laura  Caswell  . . 


1873 

Uduvil. 

1879 

1882 

Vaddukkoddai 

1893 

1893 

Manippay 

1896 

Inuvil 

1899 

Uduppiddi 

1899 

1899 

Uduvil 

1899 

Inuvil 

1900 

1900 

Tellippallai 

1905 

Inuvil 

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